Syria

Dividing the country

• Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
• SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces)
• Syrian National Army
• Islamic State (IS) formerly Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Daesh)

Population

Kurds

Main article: Kurds

Population

2000: Population growth to 16 million

Migration

2021: Net population inflow in 4 years

2020: Among the leaders in the number of emigrants

Marriages

Allowed to have more than one spouse

Politics

SSNP (Syrian Social Nationalist Party)

The SSNP (Syrian Social Nationalist Party) is one of the oldest secular parties in the region, founded back in 1932. The founder of the party, Antoine Saada, came from an Orthodox family and advocated the unity of the peoples of the Levant and, Iraq separating them from other Arab countries. In his dreams was the creation of Greater Syria from to Cyprus Iran and to Turkey and. Egypt Saudi Arabia

The party has participated in almost all conflicts in Lebanon and Syria over 90 years of its existence, in the first quarter of the 21st century it is an ally of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Ba'ath in Syria and its party militia actively participated in the war in Syria on the side of the government.

In October 2023, following Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Hurricane Eagles, the party militia of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), show readiness to fight against Israel. Their ATGM operators from Malyutka to Kornet were recorded somewhere in the areas bordering Israel.

Economy

Financial system

External debt

2019: Debt to Russia - $0.5 billion

with

Inflation

2022: Inflation in November - 139%

Currency: Syrian pound

2020: Devaluation due to US sanctions

In June 2020, Syria is experiencing a severe currency crisis after the US decision to tighten the sanctions regime, due to which even Russian structures began to refuse transactions in the country.

The Syrian pound is rapidly collapsing against the dollar, stamping out historic highs. Free fall accelerates on a daily basis, with the dollar breaking 2,000 pounds for the first time on June 4,  rising above 3,000 pounds on June 9 and reaching 3,500 pounds on the 10th.

Over the week, the dollar rose to the pound by 75%, since the beginning of the year - by 250%, and in 9 years of civil war - 83 times.

A new round of devaluation was provoked by sanctions: from June 17, 2020, the American Caesar Act comes into force, prohibiting investors from transactions that can be regarded as assistance to the government of Bashar al-Assad, including investments in the reconstruction of the country's destroyed infrastructure.

Remittances to Syria take from two to three weeks - therefore, at the beginning of June 2020, foreign currency flows to the country fell sharply , says Zaki Mehchi, senior researcher at Chatham House. Foreign companies, even from the "supporting regime" Russia, prefer not to risk it.

Agriculture

2019: Low use of pesticides in agriculture

2001: Main farming model - mixed

The main model of agriculture is mixed: irrigation and rain irrigation. Grazing is the leading form of land use.

Consumption

2023: Lamb and goat are the most consumed type of meat

Health care

2020: Duration of guaranteed paid sick leave 6 months or more

Education

2023: Teacher's salary at school - $20, at university - 40

In 2023, in Syria, the teacher's salary at the school is about $20, and the teacher at the university is $40.

2019: Number of years of education by citizens over 25

Crime

Prisons

2021: 5th in the world in the number of death executions: 24 in a year

History

2024

More than 500 Israeli attacks on Syria's military infrastructure and the seizure of new territories from the occupied Golan Heights

By December 17, 2024, in the period after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, the Israelis had carried out about 500 raids on facilities in Syria, hitting bases, airfields, port infrastructure, positional air defense areas and research centers.

Simultaneously with the air raids, Israeli troops are conducting ground operations to create a buffer zone east of the Golan Heights occupied by them. There they occupy the posts of the Syrian army and undermine the remaining fortifications and objects, after which they gradually move further into Syria.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham seizes power in Syria. President Bashar al-Assad flies to Russia

In December 2024, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group seized power in Syria.

A few weeks later, President Bashar al-Assad said that until the last moment he did not want to leave and left Damascus only on the morning of December 8. After he was taken to Russia from the Khmeimim airbase in Latakia.

The former president of Syria admitted that with the collapse of the state, his role became meaningless.

In past years, Bashar al-Assad really did not leave the country, even when the battles were going on in the capital itself.

2023

Israeli strikes on Aleppo airport

In August 2023, Israel attacked Aleppo International Airport. According to the Ministry of Defense of the ATS, the runway was damaged. The air harbor is temporarily inactive.

Development of Russian House projects

One of the main activities of the Russian House in Syria is the promotion of the Russian language in the country.

For the summer of 2023, Russian is the second-choice foreign language to study, and 24,400 students in 209 schools in Syria officially study it. However, training is not always at an acceptable level due to a lack of teachers, benefits and other difficulties.

There are no such problems in the courses of the Russian House - there is a staff of experienced teachers, textbooks and the necessary equipment. At the cultural center, 663 people learn the language, including 188 children.

In the higher education system, 250 students study Russian at the profile department at the University of Damascus, collaborating with universities in Belgorod (BelSU), Moscow ( GIRYAP and Moscow State Pedagogical University) and Stavropol (SKFU). The Russian House also interacts with Syrian universities to improve the qualifications of teachers and transfer teaching aids.

The promotion of the language in the SAR is limited by the difficult economic situation in the country, and the Russian House's own capabilities are not unlimited.

US uses refugees of Islamic State militants in Syria for its own purposes

In this photo, American Blackhawk helicopters fly up to the Ar Roj refugee camp in northeastern Syria.

The episode occurred in early July 2023 in front of local eyewitnesses - and this time it turned out to be filmed on camera.

Camp Ar-Rozh is located outside the zone of close attention of official structures, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of Russia. They talk about him, mainly either in Syria itself or in the West. At the same time, unlike the Al-Hol camp, there are a significant number of family members of the Islamic State and Lion Caliphate militants, whom American military advisers use for their own purposes.

Around the perimeter are American MaxxPro, Black Hokies regularly visit the camp itself - the camp of members of militant families. With the delivery of humanitarian aid to Ar-Rozh, it is not just tight - it is not there for "security reasons."

So the answer to the question for what purposes is the Ar-Rozh camp in northeastern Syria. And what is its true meaning.

President's son Hafez Assad graduated with honors from Moscow State University

At the end of June 2023, it became known that the eldest son of President Syria Bashar al-Assad, Hafez, completed his studies Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) and received a diploma with honors. More. here

Western pressure: 2.6 thousand sanctions against Syria

Killing 50 people at Es Suhne during truffle gathering

In February 2023, a massacre took place in Es-Sukhna east of Palmyra: unknown assailants attacked cars with people who left for a truffle collection near the city, killing at least fifty residents. Among those killed were seven Syrian police officers guarding citizens.

The Es Sukhne region and the vicinity of Palmyra are one of the traditional areas of activity of the Islamic State militants. The international terrorist organization has been operating on the site for at least the past three years, cutting communications and attacking local farmers, keeping the population in constant tension.

Moreover, the fact of the unpunished killing of civilians allows Islamic State militants. discredit the central authority, which is unable to ensure security in the liberated territories.

Earthquake 7.7 points. More than 6 thousand people died

On February 6, 2023, on the Monday before dawn Turkey , a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the south, killing scores of people.

The quake occurred in a seismically active area known as the East Anatolian Fault Zone, which has already seen devastating earthquakes in the past.

The researchers say the quake was impact-sliding as the two tectonic plates slide past each other in a horizontal direction.

In this case, one plate was moving west and the other to the east, resulting in an earthquake.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located 26 km from the city of Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey, near the border with Syria.

According to UN estimates, almost six thousand people died in the republic. However, their exact number is unknown due to the lack of reliable information from the territories where anti-government factions operate.

The country's largest refinery in Banias has suspended operations due to equipment damage. This is the strongest blow for the already affected economy of the country.

The final elimination of IS militants in Syria is not yet real

Despite the military defeat of the Islamic State in the Middle East in the early 2020s, the militants of the terrorist organization are still active in Syria and Iraq.

As of January 2023, there are no large and even small cities under their control. Most of them hide in the deserted, sparsely populated areas of Deir ez-Zor and Homs provinces in Syria and Anbar in Iraq.

But the lack of sufficient resources in manpower and weapons does not prevent them from regularly resorting to the tactics of raids, sorties and sabotage on the positions of government troops and oil and gas infrastructure facilities.

In 2022, there was a clear trend in the actions of the IG: the militants mainly attacked the territories controlled by the government of President Assad, while practically avoiding the zone of influence of Turkey in the north and the United States in the northeast and east of Syria, the Rybar channel noted.

On the one hand, the Americans, with the help of coalition forces and the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), were able to ensure the security of the occupied territories. Most of the terrorists were either eliminated or imprisoned. Their relatives and families are in compact accommodation camps supervised by the Kurds, as in Al-Hol.

On the other hand, IS capabilities in Syria and Iraq are limited at the moment, and the contingent of the combined NATO forces, along with the Kurdish formations, is quite large, and an attack on their positions will force them to respond.

A similar situation is developing in the northern regions of Syria, where pro-Turkish groups and militants Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) operate. Despite the current problems of the administration of Turkish President Erdogan with the latter, they still enjoy the support of the Turkish army and have the resource to combat the IS underground.

At the beginning of 2023, the most convenient enemy for the Islamic State is the Syrian government troops. They control a large area, but they simply cannot provide full protection for the entire area.

The economic and humanitarian crisis that has torn the country apart for years, and the long war, have severely weakened the Syrian government's capabilities - without external assistance, eliminating the threat of terrorism is almost impossible.

To this is added the discontent of the ethno-confessional group of Druze and military formations in the troubled southern regions, such as Deraa, Suweida and Kuneitra, with whom an agreement was signed on the settlement of relations in 2018, which resulted in mass protests in December 2022.

Therefore, so far there are no prospects for eradicating IS in Syria. Vast areas used by militants to move freely across Syria, as well as uncontrolled sections of the border with Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, pose additional problems in the fight against militants - not only IS, but also other groups.

At the same time, IS militants are expanding the arsenal of weapons used: during an attack on a bus with employees of an oil enterprise in the east of Deir ez-Zor, the Phagot ATGM was used, probably purchased on the "black market" from Ukraine, which is practiced by smugglers in Syria.

For the most effective result, the efforts of all countries neighboring Syria and the military contingent of the US and NATO Armed Forces are needed due to their extensive control in the provinces of Haseke and Deir ez-Zor, which is actually unrealistic.

Americans are not interested in such a scenario. The destabilizing factor in the person of IS allows us to justify our presence in Syria and Iraq, push through US interests in the Middle East and continue to siphon resources from oil fields in the east of the country.

And calls for the United States to withdraw troops from Syria and Iraq at the beginning of 2023 are futile: this will not help in the fight against terrorism, but only further destabilize the situation, the Rybar channel wrote. After all, government forces in the event of a US withdrawal are not able to occupy all this territory, which at that time is under the control of the SDF.

2022: Russia to train Syrian IT professionals

On October 17, 2022, on behalf of Governor Pavel Malkov, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Information Technologies and Communications of the region, Andrei Ulyanov, as part of the Russian government delegation, took part in a meeting in Damascus on the development of comprehensive Russian-Syrian cooperation. Read more here.

2021: Bashar al-Assad re-elected for 7-year term as president

In May 2021, Bashar Hafiz Assad, who has served as president of Syria since 2000, was elected to another seven-year term, receiving 95.1% of the vote.

2020

Fifth place in the world in the number of emigrants

Russia has allocated more than $1 billion in aid

In November 2020, it became known that Russia allocated more than one billion dollars to help Syria. This was stated by the head of the Russian-Syrian interdepartmental coordination headquarters for the return of refugees Mikhail Mizintsev.

2019

In October 2019, US President Trump announced the withdrawal of the country's army from Syria. Immediately after that, Turkey launched a military operation in northern Syria.

On October 9, Turkey launched a military operation in northern Syria against Kurdish formations in areas east of the Euphrates. The operation was called the "Source of Peace." The Turkish authorities reported that the troops were tasked with neutralizing terrorist formations in the region, ensuring the security of the Turkish-Syrian border and protecting the territorial integrity of Syria. The army was also instructed to create a buffer zone and organize the safe return of Syrian refugees, of which there are about 3.5 million in Turkey, to Syria.

Turkey said that the operation is being carried out as part of the implementation of the right to self-defense provided by UN Security Council resolutions and Article 51 of the UN Charter, and noted that since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria in 2011, missile strikes have been regularly launched from the border area from Turkish territory, as a result of which civilians are killed. At the same time, Ankara believes that the Kurdish formations that make up the core of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are closely connected with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is recognized as a terrorist organization in Syria, the United States and the EU countries. Also, the Turkish authorities plan to redeploy three million Syrian refugees back to Syria.

Both the current Turkish government and opposition parties advocated a military operation in Syria. The international community, on the other hand, reacted ambiguously to the start of the operation. For example, US President Donald Trump promised to "destroy the Turkish economy," and on October 11, 2019, Washington announced that it was preparing a new package of tough sanctions against the country.

On October 14, the US authorities imposed sanctions on three Turkish ministers, as well as the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Energy of Turkey. In addition, Donald Trump ordered another increase in import tariffs on Turkish steel and canceled negotiations on a new major trade agreement with Turkey. On Thursday October 17, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the country would impose new sanctions if Turkey did not end its military offensive in Syria.

The countries European Union also condemned Ankara's power initiative., Germany the Netherlands France and reported freezing arms exports to Turkey. There was no official condemnation of Ankara by the UN. The alliance NATO expressed confidence that Turkey will act with due diligence during the anti-terrorist operation, but some member countries of the alliance (Germany, France, the Netherlands and) did not Great Britain express support for their ally.

In 2016-2017, Turkey conducted military operations in Syria with the aim of destroying terrorist formations entrenched in the north near the Turkish-Syrian border. Thus, according to Turkish military reports, during Operation Euphrates Shield, more than 3,000 terrorists were neutralized, which made it possible to regain control of the area of ​ ​ about 4,000 square kilometers. Turkey also conducted a number of operations against PKK militants in northern Syria. At the same time, Ankara has repeatedly criticized the US authorities, which, in its opinion, supply weapons to the PKK and the Kurdish People's Self-Defense Units (ONS) associated with it.

2018

Syria is among the leaders in the number of murders of journalists

2017

US develops operation to eliminate Syrian President Assad

In September 2020, US President Donald Trump said that in 2017 he advocated organizing an operation to eliminate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but eventually abandoned this idea.

'I thought it was better to eliminate it. We were ready. However, Matttis was against it. Mattis is a highly overrated general, "Trump said in an interview.

A plan to eliminate President Assad was being developed in 2017. Trump noted that in the end he did not regret that it was not implemented, given that there were no guarantees of the success of the plan.

US-backed'Syrian Democratic Forces' occupy left bank of Euphrates after Islamic State collapse

The conflict between Arab tribes and the Kurdish administration dates back to 2017, when the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, as a result of the collapse of the terrorist Islamic State (banned from Russian territory), occupied the left bank of the Euphrates.

The local Arab population considered the Kurdish troops to be strangers. Attempts by the SDF to build their orders in accordance with the ideas of Abdullah Ocalan were layered with accusations of dissatisfied Arabs in cooperation with terrorists.

1967: Israel seizes Syria's Golan Heights

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed them.

U.S. President Trump's administration officially recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019, stepping back from longstanding U.S. policy.

1700: Part of the territory in the east as part of Safavid Persia

As part of the Roman Empire

Main article: Roman Empire

129 BC: Seleucid State

326 BC: As part of the empire of Alexander the Great

530 BC: As part of the Achaemenid Persian State

650 BC: As part of the Assyrian Power

1404 BC: Amarna Archive - diplomatic correspondence with Egypt

The Amarna Archive is a collection of correspondence on clay tablets, mainly diplomatic, between the government of Ancient Egypt and its representatives in the Eastern Mediterranean (Canaan and Amurru), as well as the kings of other powerful powers of the region (Babylonia, Hatti, Mitanni, Assyria).

V thousand BC: Megaliths